Graduate Admissions

The Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) Department encourages applications from students with undergraduate backgrounds in materials science and engineering, chemistry, physics, geology, and most other fields of engineering.

Students are accepted into the department in competition with students from all over the world. The MSE Graduate Committee is only able to assess complete applications.

In general, the MSE Department normally expects applicants to have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 (4.0 scale) or better for either the B.S. degree program or the last 60 hours of course work. Students applying to MSE must take the GRE. Students will likely not be competitive with scores below 150 on Verbal, 155 on Quantitative, and a 4.0 on the Analytical Writing section. International applicants must also take the TOEFL unless they have completed a degree at an English speaking university. We expect a minimum TOEFL score of 90 (IBT) or IELTS score of 6.5 for admission. Additionally, TOEFL scores of 20 or greater are required in each subsection (Listening, Writing, Speaking and Reading). We do not have a department code for electronic test scores. All scores should be sent to the Graduate School using code 5859.

Applicants are encouraged to apply for fall semester entry. We do process spring applications but financial assistance opportunities are more prevalent in the fall. The department processes applications on a rolling basis. To be given full consideration for admission and assistantships/fellowships, applications must be received by January 15th for the fall term and September 1st for the spring term. All application materials must be received by the deadlines for admission. The Graduate School's deadlines can be found here.

Please submit your 3 letters of reference electronically; however, if your references are unable to submit their letters of support online, they may email copies to the Graduate Coordinator at the address listed below.

The Graduate School will share your online application information with us, so please

After the Graduate School receives your application, you will be sent an e-mail with instructions on how to check your application status online. Please allow for processing time as you are monitoring the status.

For your protection, information on application status cannot be released by telephone or to third parties. The MSE Department can only recommend admission. Official notification from the Graduate School will be sent via email. Estimated date for decisions to be posted for applicants in the US is March 15th for complete applications received by Jan. 15th. Estimated date for decisions to be posted for applicants outside the US is May 15th for complete applications received by Jan. 15th. Please be aware that the on-line status only indicates if the application is complete at the Graduate School, not necessarily with the Department.

The MSE Department is always interested in hearing from undergraduate students who expect to continue their graduate studies. Visitors are always welcome in the department both to talk to faculty and staff about their career interests as well as to attend classes which may be of interest to them. Please contact Kim Grandstaff via email to discuss your interest and schedule appointments.